The subject matter described and/or illustrated herein relates generally to connector assemblies, and more particularly, to connector assemblies that interconnect circuit boards.
Electrical connector systems are known for providing an electrical connection between two circuit boards. Specifically, complementary electrical connectors mounted on the circuit boards are mated together to establish an electrical connection between the circuit boards. In some applications, one or both of the circuit boards is connected in thermal communication with a conduction cooling component (e.g., a heat sink, a heat pipe, and/or the like) for cooling the circuit board(s).
But, it may be difficult to establish the thermal communication between the circuit board and the corresponding conduction cooling component after the electrical connectors have been mated together, for example in applications wherein the circuit boards are oriented approximately perpendicular to each other. For example, the circuit board must be brought into engagement in physical contact with the conduction cooling component and/or an intervening thermal interface material (TIM) to connect the circuit board in thermal communication with the conduction cooling component. But, once the electrical connectors have been mated together, the electrical connectors may not be capable of being moved relative to each other sufficiently to move the circuit board into engagement in physical contact with the conduction cooling component and/or the intervening TIM. Accordingly, it may be impossible to sufficiently establish thermal communication between the circuit board and the conduction cooling component, which may lead to malfunction and/or failure of the circuit board from overheating. In some circumstances it may be possible to rotate the electrical connectors relative to each other to move the circuit board into engagement in physical contact with the conduction cooling component and/or the intervening TIM. But, rotating the electrical connectors relative to each other to establish the thermal communication may damage the electrical connectors and/or break the electrical connection between the electrical connectors.